Special Teams Entry Game

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Special Teams Entry Game
By: Union Hockey
Union Hockey

The Special Teams Entry Game from Coach TJ Manastersky is designed to increase the repetitions of the entry situation in special teams, both for the power play, and penalty kill teams. 

TJ Manastersky shared this game with the IHS Community while he was an Assistant Coach at Union College. TJ is the Current Head Coach at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Setup

  • A coach has pucks in the defensive zone.
  • 4 Penalty Killers are in the neutral zone.
  • 5 players are on the Power Play are spread out and stationary on the top of their defensive zone circles. 
  • Coach starts the drill by giving the puck to one of the players on the Power Play. This begins the 5 on 4.
  • The Penalty Kill works to ice the puck while the Power Play works to gain possession and score a goal.
  • After the the rep plays out for a little while, the coach blows the whistle for a second time, and the Power Play returns to their own end to get a second puck from the coach and attempt to score another goal. 
  • Keep Score! Coaches can make the game more engaging for players by keeping score. You can give the defensive team a point for clearing the puck or forcing a chip / dump. The Power Play can gain a point by gaining possession of the line and/ or scoring a goal.

Coaching Points

  • Penalty Kill should always keep their sticks on the ice and work to force chips and dumps.
  • The Power Play is at a disadvantage because they do not have a lot of speed, so they must work to be creative to generate space and gain the offensive blue line.